Run, and pray it does not find you
by quwira
Summary: A flying accident leaves Hiccup anxious and scared. Unfortunately, there is no time for fear, as a new threat looms over Berk...
1. Chapter 1

**I really wanted to finish writing this fanfiction completely before I started uploading it. However, HTTYD 2 is going to be released very soon, and I already know from the trailer that it will most likely spoil the head cannons I have for this story, so I am going to start uploading it now, so no one can really say too much. I really recommend you read my HTTYD one shots before you read this one, cause they all take place in my head cannon, and some of them will play a bit of a role in this one. Not too important for this chapter though. Anyway, I'm hoping to have fairly regular updates, but alas, university and jobs take preference, so the regular updates may not be for a while. Anyway, enjoy.  
**

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**Chapter 1**

"Argh! Toothless!" Hiccup protested as his faithful companion gave him another slobbery lick. Toothless grinned at his human.

"You know I hate that!" The dragon gave his rider a look that said he was very aware of what Hiccup did and didn't like. He grinned again.

Hiccup smiled, and then turned his concentration back to his leg. Or what was left of it anyway. He undid the thick leather straps that held the prosthetic in place, and rubbed the stump. It had been bothering him a lot lately. It ached and it felt stiff. According to Gobber, Hiccup's employer and mentor, this was to be expected. Gobber himself had lost his own leg, as well as his hand in the dragon raids that used to plague the small village of Berk.

Hiccup considered himself lucky. He had survived the terrifying ordeal, even if he didn't quite come out of it whole. He snuggled into Toothless' side. The battle with the Green Death had been petrifying now that he thought of it. It didn't feel as much so during the fight. He was scared out of his mind, but the main thing he felt was adrenaline. It was the first time in his life he didn't feel like Hiccup the Useless. He was Hiccup the Brave.

He looked out at the sea once more, before re-doing the straps. He started to get to his feet. As always, Toothless was there to support him, and help him up. Hiccup yawned. "Thanks Buddy," he murmured, giving Toothless an affectionate scratch behind the ears. "What do you say we head on over to the cove?" Toothless nodded enthusiastically. The dragon used to hate the gorge that the villagers had since dubbed 'Night Fury Cove'. When the ability to fly had failed him, it was his prison, and he felt resentment towards it. Now that he could up and leave whenever he pleased, Toothless found it peaceful, and loved to nap there.

Toothless wriggled his shoulders and turned his head towards his back, motioning that Hiccup should climb on. Hiccup raised an eyebrow. He had seen the dragon's green eyes glimpse towards his metal addition. "I see what you're doing; you don't want me to walk on this leg." He put his hand on the black scales adorning the dragon's back. "How am I going to learn how to walk if you carry me everywhere?"

Toothless replied by lowering his head and gazing up at the human, making himself look as sad and pitiful as possible. "Those puppy dog eyes are not going to work on me." Hiccup said sternly. "It's not that far and I need the practice." Toothless huffed in discontent, which made his rider smile. "Come on," he said, and started to limp towards the cove, fully aware that the dragon scrutinised him carefully, ready to catch him if he fell. Hiccup also knew that the second he did, Toothless would be much more insistent on carrying him.

The walk was slow, although Toothless didn't mind all that much. Hiccup was learning to walk again, which the Night Fury knew from his experiences as an amputee, was a long and often painful process. His human didn't give up on him learning how to fly again, and so Toothless would help him as much as he could. Humans were extremely fragile after all. This was the dragon's conclusion as to why Hiccup took numerous short breaks on the walk. Toothless even liked these rests; it meant he was able to roll around in the sweet-smelling grass and warm his scales in the sun. Before he met Hiccup, Toothless was fairly nocturnal, given that his invisibility seemed to work best in the dark. Although he often needed a nap during the day, and was frequently plagued with insomnia at night, the dragon had to admit he rather liked daytime. It was filled with more colour, and more interesting creatures.

At long last, the pair made it to the opening of the cove. Reluctantly, Toothless left his human and jumped over the rocks that surrounded the ravine; there was no way his bulkier build would fit through the entrance that Hiccup used. He would wait for him on the other side.

Hiccup waited until his dragon could no longer see him before his expression turned to one of anxiety. He had hated getting through the rocky, steep opening when he had two working legs. Now, with the prosthetic, he dreaded it. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves, and stepped forward.

It wasn't so bad, Hiccup thought to himself. It was certainly getting easier as he became more adjusted to his metal foot. It still took him a while to get through, and he didn't think this was something that would ever change; he always had to watch where he was putting his prosthetic. It didn't grip like a normal foot should. He wondered how he might be able to improve on that. Line the bottom of it with something he supposed. Leather would wear out too easily and would be of no use in the rain or the snow. The leg might rust in bad weather anyway. Hiccup speculated whether something could be done about that.

Hiccup was so lost in his own thoughts, he didn't see the loose rock, just before the steep descent into the cove. He stepped on it with his prosthetic. Hiccup stumbled, and then fell the rest of the way down. His scream alarmed Toothless, who was resting on the large rock beside the lake.

Toothless came bounding over to the small teenager. Hiccup was in a heap on the floor, eyes closed and not moving. The dragon nudged his human, which earned no response. Panic started to set in, and so he resorted to licking Hiccup's face.

The rider groaned. "Toothless…that's gross…" he opened his eyes. He twisted his head a little to meet the dragon's green eyes, which were brimmed with concern. He reached up to pat Toothless' nose affectionately. "Sorry Buddy, must have slipped." Hiccup manoeuvred his arms underneath him to push himself up onto his knees. As he did so, searing hot pain exploded at his stump. He cried out and grasped it, as if that would make it stop. He couldn't think; it hurt him so much. Tears streamed down his face.

It took several moments before the pain subsided some. Hiccup undid the straps of his prosthetic carefully. The fall hadn't done that much damage, at least as far as he could see. It made him feel slightly foolish for reacting to it so badly. There were areas of skin Hiccup could tell would turn into bruises later, but that seemed to be the extent of the injury. He gave Toothless a smile. "See? Not that bad Buddy." The dragon did not look convinced, especially after that performance Hiccup just gave. He sniffed the stump tentatively, as if he thought he might hurt his human further. He gave Hiccup's head a quick sniff for good measure. He didn't smell any blood. Toothless still wasn't satisfied, but decided not to push it. His human could be exceedingly stubborn. He nudged his human's arm, and stuck his head under his armpit, to help Hiccup stand up. Hiccup, not wanting to put the metal contraption back on his leg just at that moment, gratefully accepted the help. Then the two slowly hobbled their way over to the large pond.

Toothless's straps and saddle were removed before he plopped himself down under a tree for a cat nap. Hiccup smiled at his friend before turning his attention back to his injuries. He sat at the edge of the water, and dangled his stump in. The water should help prevent any swelling. Considering he had blacked out, Hiccup figured he must have hit his head fairly hard. He carefully probed his scalp with his fingers until he came across a sore bump. Then he reached for the saddle, and turned it over. There was some cloth he had attached underneath to make it more comfortable for Toothless. He detached it now, and soaked it in the water. Once thoroughly wet, he placed it gingerly over the lump. He held it to his head as he flopped backwards. It was far more comfortable. Although he had a sore, and now cold, head and leg, Hiccup couldn't help love moments like these; lazing in the sunlight, with his best friend. He closed his eyes to prevent the sun getting in, and grinned. Yes, life was very good.

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_"No!" Toothless had heard Hiccup cry, right before they hit the giant tail. After impact, Toothless shook his head. It didn't seem to have done that much damage. Suddenly, he realised he could no longer feel Hiccup's weight. He turned to see his friend fall, unconscious, into the hellish inferno._

Toothless woke with a start. He hated the fact that the giant dragon queen had controlled him. He was forever thankful to Hiccup for shooting him out of the sky, which somehow undid the spell, even if he had lost his ability to fly independently. He thought it ironic however, that occasionally; the queen would still have control over his dreams, even after she was killed. It wasn't the fact that he was dreaming of her that bothered Toothless; it was seeing his friend almost die.

He looked up to see said friend lying next to the pond, legs submerged in the water and a cloth over his head. Remembering the nightmare, a sudden feeling of dread struck Toothless, as he went to investigate.

Hiccup had merely fallen asleep. Toothless humphed. It was very typical for his fragile human to leave himself unprotected like that. Unlike dragons, who woke up very often (in order to be ready for anything), humans slept for ages on end. Toothless lay down next to him, and unfolded his wing to cover his slumbering rider. As he settled down for another nap, he thought that this defenselessness of Hiccup's was ok. Toothless would be there to protect him. Hiccup gave him his ability to fly, and Toothless would guard him. That's what friends did.

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**I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Very cute start, hey? I promise, there will be some more actiony stuff in the next chapter. Until then!  
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	2. Chapter 2

**SO another chapter. Valka's supposed death does play into this story. I HAVE NOT SEEN HTTYD2 YET. Please no spoilers. This is my head cannon from before, when they think Valka has died. For more clarification, please read my one-shot 'When will Mummy be back?'  
**

**Also keep in mind this story is on hold for the moment as I finish this semester of university, then I'll try write as much as I can. Anyway, enjoy.**

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Chapter 2

He felt very warm. He relished in the warmth. It was very comforting. It reminded him a little of the hugs his mother used to give, before she was tragically drowned at sea during a storm. He could even hear a heartbeat. It thumped rhythmically, and made him feel safe.

Hiccup opened his eyes. Had he fallen asleep? All he could see was black. He wriggled a little and felt scales. Ah. Toothless had fallen asleep on him again. Still, he didn't complain. It was peaceful; a tranquillity hardly ever gained in the village.

He turned, and felt something slide off his head. It was the cloth, and it was, Hiccup noted, dry. He must have been asleep for a while.

Suddenly, something jogged in his memory. He was supposed to meet Astrid and the others that afternoon. They were to all go flying together. Hiccup wriggled out as carefully as he could without waking the dragon, but to no avail. Toothless was awake, but not willing to move. He watched his human through slitted eyes try and crawl out, and he was going to do nothing to help.

Hiccup managed to get out from underneath his heavy dragon after several minutes of struggling. He shielded his eyes against the light. He noted the position of the sun.

"I'm going to be so late."

He quickly crawled over to where his prosthetic lay abandoned and strapped it on. He grabbed a branch to pull himself up with, before limping over to the black mass.

"Come on Toothless, we're gonna be late to meet the others."

Toothless lifted his head up to watch his human get the saddle, before standing up to make the process of strapping it on easier. He knew how angry his human's 'not-quite-mate' could be if kept waiting for too long. He could not quite figure out Hiccup's and Astrid's relationship. Were they, or were they not mates? They acted like it sometimes, but avoided eye contact other times, and occasionally even fought. Humans, Toothless decided, were very confusing.

Hiccup finally had the saddle on, and locked his prosthetic in place. Without any other kind of signal, Toothless took to the sky. They flew above the clouds to find his friends.

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"Come on, I said I was sorry!" Hiccup said. "What do I have to do?"

Astrid whacked his arm. "That ought to cover it." The twins cracked up.

"Good thinking Astrid," sneered Tuffnut. "Hit the guy who can't hit back!"

"I can't imagine what your wedding night would be like!" Ruffnut joined in. Hiccup blushed very deeply, and suddenly seemed to find the sandy floor very interesting. Astrid on the other hand, quickly ran over to her dragon, Stormfly, and hid her face. The twins laughed again.

Snotlout mounted his Nightmare, Hookfang. "We flying or what?" The exclamation made the others quickly strap up their dragons. Fishlegs gave his Gronkle, Meatlug, a carrot. The twins argued over which head was which.

"This one's Belch!" claimed Tuffnut.

"No, that's Barf, this one is Belch!" insisted Ruffnut.

Hiccup grinned at the fighting twins, before climbing back on Toothless' back. Toothless craned his neck around so that Hiccup could see him roll his eyes at the twins' antics.

"Agreed," he replied. "Though I must admit, they're pretty fun to watch."

Snotlout was the first in the air, followed closely by Hiccup and Astrid. Meatlug seemed to adore Fishlegs, and did not mind him taking his time to start flying. The twins were wrestling to decide who was right, while the Zippleback looked on uninterestedly. Eventually, the left head nudged Ruffnut.

"See, told you this one was Barf!" she gloated, before mounting. Tuffnut stuck his tongue out.

Hookfang decided that he wanted to loop-the-loop, which caused Snotlout to yell. The rest of the group laughed. Toothless shot a small lightning bolt playfully at Hookfang, who dodged it expertly.

"Hiccup!" Snotlout shouted. "Tell Toothless I don't want to be shot out of the air!"

"Toothless wouldn't have shot you out of the air!" Hiccup replied. "I think it's one of the ways dragons communicate!" He spotted Astrid out of the corner of his eye. She saw that she had his attention and motioned upwards. Hiccup nodded, then changed his foot position and urged his black dragon to fly towards the clouds. Stormfly did the same.

They broke through the clouds and into the clear sky above. Stormfly flew in close to Toothless, so that Astrid might climb on behind Hiccup. They routinely did this during flights. Even though the exact nature of their relationship was complicated, they both enjoyed this closeness, the bliss of being in each other's company while flying above the clouds. The others, Tuffnut and Snotlout in particular, very much wished to know what Astrid and Hiccup did when they flew above the clouds. However, their dragons would not allow them to fly up and see. This was the deal they had made with Toothless and Stormfly.

"It's beautiful," commented Astrid, more to herself than to her companion.

Hiccup smirked. "You're beautiful." Astrid rested her head on Hiccup's shoulder.

"That was corny."

"I expect you're gonna hit me now?"

Astrid shrugged. "Not now. Probably not a good idea to hit the person steering." Toothless grunted in complaint. The two teenagers laughed. "I didn't think I needed to mention you, everyone knows you're the one in charge here Toothless." Toothless craned his neck around to look at Astrid and gave her a nod of approval.

"It's getting dark," noted Hiccup. "We should probably get back."

Suddenly a scream came from below the thick clouds. It was unmistakably Ruffnut. This was followed by yells that sounded like they came from the boys. Astrid yelled for Stormfly who was flying close behind. Then the Viking girl leapt off Toothless' back and landed on her own dragon.

Hiccup nodded to Astrid before adjusting the foot pedal. Toothless synchronized perfectly and the dipped beneath the clouds.

A dragon appeared in Toothless' vision. It was female, and was the colour of dried blood. She had massive spikes along her back. Her wings had a distinctive silver tip that resembled a dagger. Her small eyes were the colour of ambers.

"Oh Gods, a Knifewing," he heard his rider say.

"An Oleaginous Knifewing!" said Fishlegs excitedly. "They're quite rare, and have an oil-based attack and-…" "Not the time Fishlegs!" cried Hiccup. Fishlegs mumbled an apology.

Knifewings were not usually known to be hostile; however this one was in a very aggressive position, baring her teeth. Toothless noted that her stomach bulged slightly; she was getting ready to lay an egg. Of course she would be defensive! They must have flown too close to her nest. Toothless quickly glanced at the other dragons. They too had realized her pregnancy and stayed back, despite their riders' confused cries. Hiccup on the other hand had sensed his dragon's mood and remained silent. Toothless shot a tiny bolt of lightning towards her, one he knew wouldn't hurt her. It was a comforting bolt, so she would know they meant no harm to her or her baby.

He could tell immediately that she did not trust the message. Or maybe it was the fact that they flew with humans on their backs. She slitted her eyes, and gave a terrifying roar, before launching herself at him. He dodged, before barking an order to the other dragons to get the kids out of there immediately. He acted as a leader, even in the Queen dragon's rule. Being virtually invisible during the raids meant he was a good look out, and could judge the situation without being shot at, so the other dragons learnt to trust his judgement. Right now, the circumstance looked dangerous, and he felt it was best if he and Hiccup survey the problem before they decided to engage in combat.

Toothless flew in a circle around her, while yelling that they meant no harm to her, or her unborn baby. The Knifewing screamed back that there was filth on his back, and that he was a traitor to their species, before gathering oil in her throat, ready to ignite it. Toothless flew quickly to her side and rammed her. Much of the oil fell out of her mouth, and into the ocean.

If she was angry before, Hiccup knew she would be furious now. She swiped at the pair with her razor sharp wings, aiming straight at him. He moved the prosthetic to change the foot pedal. Toothless barrel rolled out of the Knifewing's striking distance. She growled, and flew in for another go at Hiccup. Toothless shot her again with his lightning, but this time, defensively. It hit the base of her wing. She screeched, and fell several feet before regaining control.

Hiccup figured their best bet would be to use Toothless' amazing speed and fly around her, possibly disorientating her. However, before he could change his foot position, his leg spasmed. Excruciating pain shot from his hip to his stump. He couldn't concentrate on flying. He cried out in pain. Even if he could think through the agony, the muscles in his leg moved involuntarily, making control of the fin impossible.

The Knifewing saw that the Night Fury was, for some reason, losing control of his flight, as his human shrieked. She used this to her advantage, and shot an oily fireball straight at the human.

Toothless saw the fireball coming, but something was wrong with Hiccup. He fought to keep them both in the air, but he wouldn't be able to avoid that fireball. He felt it hit his back right leg, but he could tell that Hiccup had gotten hit too. He smelt burning leather (a smell he had learnt when Hiccup had first made the saddle, and tried to force him into it).

Suddenly, he could no longer feel Hiccup's weight. Toothless looked down and saw him falling. It was just like their fight with the Queen Dragon, except this time felt worse.

This time, Hiccup was screaming.

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**I own the Knifewing. If you wish to use it in your own stories, feel free but credit me please.  
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**Anyway, leave me a review, let me know what you thought.**

**I wrote this chapter so long ago, like, BEFORE the TV series was a thing**


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